I am back and want to try something new

[JeffSmdk]

I'm a solid Mandrake user. I keep trying other distros, and liking other distros, but I keep coming back to Mandrake for it's all around excellence, tons of features, great looks, and total ease of use.

 

That said, I can whole-heartedly recommend both Ubuntu and Mepis. They both have Live CDs, both are based on Debian (Mepis is Testing and Unstable, Ubuntu is all Unstable), both are super easy to install, and both have great hardware detection.

 

Have fun!

[heather1113]

Thank you.

 

I still have to do some more reading on how to do this with regard to the boot loader etc. but then I'm going to try both Mepis and Ubuntu (one at a time). I still have to either download Mepis or buy the disk which I have been putting off because although I have DSL it is pretty slow, 384k. I had thought that I might try Libranet but I'm just not patient enough to wait for 3.0.

 

I really do like Mandrake but I just need a new challenge.

[polemicz]

I'd go with Ubuntu. As a matter of fact I am slowly easing into it from Mandrake. It's not that it is better than Mandrake, but I prefer .deb system, especially for upgrading. I simply hate new installations with Mandrake, having to do all sorts of tweaks and extra installations. Maybe if the upgrade were to work I'd feel better. Maybe it does now for all I know. Also the new Debian installer (used by Ubuntu and Debian Sarge) is quite easy, just no fancy GUI.

[pbpersson]

I'm a solid Mandrake user.  I keep trying other distros, and liking other distros, but I keep coming back to Mandrake for it's all around excellence, tons of features, great looks, and total ease of use.

 

That's what I like to hear - someone who has been around the block a few times and came back to Mandrake. :D

 

That confirms for me the fact that I made a good choice. There are so many out there, and it can be so confusing!

 

 

Phil

[pbpersson]

She actually ;) 

 

I want you to know that I knew right away that you were a she. :D

 

I grew up in the Chicago area, so you and I were practically neighbors. :D

 

My mother grew up around New London. My dad and I used to fish in Madison and also in Land O' Lakes which is far north, up around Eagle River and Rhinelander.

 

 

 

Phil

[heather1113]

I'd go with Ubuntu. As a matter of fact I am slowly easing into it from Mandrake. It's not that it is better than Mandrake, but I prefer .deb system, especially for upgrading. I simply hate new installations with Mandrake, having to do all sorts of tweaks and extra installations. Maybe if the upgrade were to work I'd feel better. Maybe it does now for all I know. Also the new Debian installer (used by Ubuntu and Debian Sarge) is quite easy, just no fancy GUI.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I totally agree with you about the upgrades. I had just always assumed it was the same way with all the distros. Now I don't know if this is just a Mandrake thing or what but everytime I update my software (urpmi --auto-select) something breaks or works funny. I think I'll download Mepis overnight and install it tomorrow and see how I like it and install Ubuntu next.

[JeffSmdk]

I'd go with Ubuntu. As a matter of fact I am slowly easing into it from Mandrake. It's not that it is better than Mandrake, but I prefer .deb system, especially for upgrading. I simply hate new installations with Mandrake, having to do all sorts of tweaks and extra installations. Maybe if the upgrade were to work I'd feel better. Maybe it does now for all I know. Also the new Debian installer (used by Ubuntu and Debian Sarge) is quite easy, just no fancy GUI.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I totally agree with you about the upgrades. I had just always assumed it was the same way with all the distros. Now I don't know if this is just a Mandrake thing or what but everytime I update my software (urpmi --auto-select) something breaks or works funny. I think I'll download Mepis overnight and install it tomorrow and see how I like it and install Ubuntu next.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Mandrake is an RPM based distro. RPM does not handle system upgrades as well as Deb/apt-get does.

 

The very biggest selling point about Debian and Deb packages and apt-get is how well it handles dependencies, and how well tested all of the packages and libraries are, and how well integrated all the packages are, and the policies apt-get follows for how system files are handled. This is what allows someone to install Debian Woody, tweak it to his/her hearts content, install tons of software, then upgrade the entire thing to Sid, quite often without any problems at all.

 

That said, I'm not a huge believer in upgrading a complete OS too many times. Even with such a high quality, well integrated system as Debian, you are bound to eventually have problems.

 

But back to Mandrake and urpmi. Urpmi handles installing new software, as well as updating existing software, seamlessly. However, if you want to do a complete system upgrade, you probably will have more problems doing so with Mandrake than you would with Debian and apt-get.

[heather1113]

Well, I just pre-ordered the latest Mepis (3.3) and I should get it next week sometime.

 

Then I read everything in the knowledge base on the Mepis site as well as the Mepis Lovers forum and printed everything I thought I should need. I still need to read more about apt but other than that I am ready.

 

So thank you everyone for the help and advice.